Gail's Birmingham shop hit with one-star hygiene rating, the chain's lowest yet

A Gail's Bakery outlet in Birmingham on New Street has been rated by the Food Standards Agency as one star, the lowest score the chain has received and the latest sign of hygiene problems at a location opened less than a year ago. The one-star rating, issued last month, marks the first time a Gail's shop has fallen to that level and places the Birmingham site among a small group of Gail's bakeries with persistent hygiene concerns.

Inspectors found that the cleanliness and condition of facilities and the building required major improvement. The rating also noted inadequacies in the building’s layout, ventilation, hand-washing facilities and pest control necessary to enable good food hygiene. The management of food safety at the site was graded as major improvements necessary, with checks showing insufficient evidence that food sold is safe to eat or that staff know and apply food-safety procedures. The food safety officer could not provide confidence that standards would be maintained in the future. While hygienic handling of food received a pass, it was classified as generally satisfactory rather than stronger.

The one-star rating is the lowest score of any Gail's bakery and one of only three in the country to be failing in hygiene. Earlier this year, Gail's stores in Cambridgeshire and London were awarded scores of two, indicating improvement necessary rather than a failure. A Gail's spokesperson told BirminghamLive that the company takes food hygiene very seriously and that the incident has been fully investigated and resolved. The spokesperson said the issue poses no risk to customers or products and that the company remains confident in its overall hygiene standards across its bakeries.

Gail's is known for its upmarket pastries, cakes and coffee and operates a number of shops nationwide, including sites in London, Bristol and Liverpool as well as Birmingham. In January, Gail's manager Bernadette Scott Rushfirth addressed concerns about the Birmingham opening, saying the new bakery would help improve the landscape of high streets. Rushfirth argued that healthy high streets are diverse and that openings in various retail formats can contribute positively to local areas, noting that Gail's bakeries often locate in former banks, retail spaces or restaurants as part of urban renewal.

The episode underscores ongoing scrutiny of food-hygiene ratings in the sector. Hygiene ratings are intended to safeguard consumers and inform competition on the high street. Gail's acknowledges the Birmingham result and says it will continue to monitor and maintain standards across its network, while stressing that the Birmingham site has already been addressed and the risk to customers remains low.